1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to orthogonal circuit board connections.
2. Background of the Related Art
In high performance computer systems with high data rates, there is both an architectural and a performance benefit achieved from the use of orthogonally connected circuit boards. The architectural benefit comes from the fact that electrical interconnection between all or any subset of the boards can be obtained without the need to connect through copper circuit trace paths like traditional mid plane system architectures. Instead, an orthogonal system can be structured such that a matrix of boards can be constructed using a network of minimum length direct connected pathways solely through the connector itself using mid plane connector vias. This advantage can be leveraged to design a system analogous to a high performance switch to control data and processing networks. The advantage of this system flexibility in interconnection lends itself nicely to highly networked hardware and cloud computing goals.
The second benefit to orthogonal connection comes from a signal quality performance standpoint. Orthogonal connections provide system designers the ability to eliminate traditional copper circuit paths normally used on present mid plane designs. Orthogonal connections instead utilize a common (shared via) copper plated via hole wherein the connectors themselves are press fit into common via holes from oppose sides of the mid plane.
The advantage of this “shared via” technology is that circuit path lengths are very short and are directly coupled through each respective orthogonal connector pair. Mid plane circuit traces are therefore eliminated, signals pass through vias but do not get distributed onto the mid plane. This greatly improves high speed signal quality and allows increased network data rates, due to the resultant enhanced electrical signal quality.